Joseph Bucklin

Joseph Bucklin was a private in the 2nd Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War. Bucklin was the elected leader of the regiment's mutineers in July 1863, and Joshua Chamberlain persuaded Bucklin and his men to continue fighting for the Union with his regiment.

Biography
Joseph Bucklin was from the US state of Maine, and he enlisted in the US Army at the start of the American Civil War, signing on for three years. Bucklin served in the 2nd Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, fighting in eleven different engagements and being wounded in the right ankle. In July 1863, Bucklin was elected the leader of a group of mutineering soldiers within the regiment who protested against the Army forcing them to stay in the army even after the 2nd Maine was disbanded; as they had signed three-year papers, they were not disbanded with their regiment, and they were instead sent to join the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment under protest. Bucklin spoke to Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and told him of his frustration with the Union army's commanders and how the generals used his men "like cows, or dogs, or worse." Chamberlain later addressed the men of the regiment and persuaded them to join the 20th Maine to continue fighting for what was right, and all but six of the men would fight alongside Chamberlain at the Battle of Gettysburg.